But, Laura, why did Joe mention the cherry-picking of some on the far right but did not mention the cherry-picking of the media? Why doesn’t the media show pictures of Trayvon at 17 years old instead of showing pictures of him at 12 years old? Why didn’t Joe mention the fact that an elderly couple can’t even live in their home because Spike Lee and Roseann Barr tweeted what they thought was Zimmerman’s address? Why didn’t Joe mention the twitter feed @killzimmerman? Why didn’t Joe mention the bounty put on Zimmerman’s head by the New Black Panther party? Why didn’t Joe mention the fact that the MSM has already made up its mind about this case a la the Duke Lacrosse case? And when Joe looked to Willie Geist for affirmation, Willie said that some people wanted to put some balance into the story that the media hadn’t and these same people obviously went too far.

It’s not fair that Trayvon’s twitter account has been made public. But when the media turns a murder victim into an icon, this was bound to happen. The vast majority of murder victims don’t even get a mention in the news. And Joe forgot to mention MSNBC’s memory loss when it comes to innocent until proven guilty in this case.

Yes, Scarborough failed to mention, in that one clip, every element of this story, and every media sin since the beginning of time. That totally negates the fact that Daily Caller, and other right-wing sites, are going out of their way to defame a dead kid, in a way that kinda makes conservatives look racist. Gotcha. I know, Lonestar, they’re gonna call us that anyway. Whatever.

I’m sure Joe will never mention every element of this story.
Yes, in theory it’s wrong for Trayvon’s tweets to have been made public, but it’s also wrong for everyone to assume Zimmerman is a racist cop-wannable. Trayvon’s name is now known by everyone in this country, probably in many other countries. When the media turns a single murder victim into a martyr, every part of his life, including his tweets, will be delved into by those who think the media’s response has not been balanced or even objective.

The Daily Caller used to be ‘mainstream’ conservative. The nutbar sites don’t really matter, but Tucker Carlson sacrificed a fair amount of personal credibility for that hit-job. I hope he’s happy with himself. He made a choice to air that crap. Nobody forced him to. I haven’t seen it on TV, so even they have better standards.

What was revealed was Zimmerman did not shoot a twelve year old boy whose only life reference was Skittles and Ice Tea. That perception was being pushed by the media with chosen photographs and last purchase details which left no room for doubt that Zimmerman should be arrested immediately. The fact that Martin was cultivating a far different image that might have led Zimmerman to feel threatened is material to letting the authorities complete their investigation before tossing Zimmerman in jail should all evidence merit that.

Oh bull. They rated out a dead boy’s school records to ‘prove’ Zimmerman had a right to feel threatened by a black teen walking through his neighborhood. The 911 tapes clearly show a man freaking out over a person committing the crime of WALKING. How many lockers Martin scrawled on had NOTHING to do with it. Tucker slandered a dead boy because the President dared to identify with him.

March 22 – A Wadsworth resident reported that there was a red BMX bicycle on the sidewalk of State Street between Dalton and Seville roads. An officer checked with nearby residents, but none knew who owned the bicycle. The bicycle was logged into police property since an owner could not be located.

March 22 – Police responded to a home in the 200 block of North Pardee Street in reference to a stolen BMX bicycle. A report was taken and an investigation is pending.

I think the women’s jewelry, including diamond earrings and wedding bands, along with a screwdriver, that were found in Trayvon’s backpack by school authorities, may be germane to Zimmerman’s defense if he is arrested. Maybe it’s not fair, but that’s how trials work.

The MSNBC crawl has been running a line about wind farms for hours now (I first saw it on Now with Alex Wagner) where Great Lakes is spelled as Greak Lakes. You would think someone would notice and correct the error.

Whether we like it or not, Zimmerman still has the presumption of innocence, and he’s entitled to a defense. Part of that defense is to highlight how Martin may have played a role in the tragic shooting, if that’s the case.

Does anyone else remember how eager the media were to try, convict, and lynch Richard Jewell in 1996?

Ridiculous. The contents of Trayvon’s school backpack are never going to translate to Zimmerman having the right to stalk the kid against dispatch orders. Anyone can call the cops if they think someone is “suspicious”. Catching up to the target before they do is completely out of line. You guys are making up excuses to justify Tucker turning a dead kid into a Bad Person.

If I’m heard calling 911 on someone for walking in my neighborhood, and it turns out I caught up to him and shot him before the police got there, I fully expect to be castigated for being so effing stupid. All I’ve ever called for is an arrest and trial. If he can’t be proven guily of at least manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt, cest la vie.

The media pushed a false narrative that Zimmerman was out to get a black guy. I saw, on Hannity last night, the clip from the Today Show where they edited the 9/11 call to make it look like Zimmerman was actively out to get a black guy. It was beyond dishonest. Last I checked, NBC isn’t some website.

Olbermann was getting so unbearable after he left MSNBC. As a liberal, I was tolerating him best I could. He doesn’t fit the mold at Current whatsoever, though. They have a lot of classy people like Cenk Uygur, Jennifer Granholm, and now Eliot Spitzer there, and they all seem to have their heads on straight. Keith looks as unhinged as can be, and always seems like he’s in a disheveled state.

ProgLib – no doubt. Every now and then Rachel Maddow will state how lucky she is to be able to anchor her own show. What makes Olbermann self-destruct is beyond me, but one day he will probably look back on all of this and wish he would have less of a prima donna.

The fiery segment ended with Cenk telling Pratt “Now I know that I can stalk your ass, and if you dare fight back, I can put a bullet right in your chest, and go ‘Oh, he fought back, ha ha, he had Skittles in his pocket, he fought back, that guy with the tie, that white honkie, I shot him dead!’”

If I’m heard calling 911 on someone for walking in my neighborhood, and it turns out I caught up to him and shot him before the police got there, I fully expect to be castigated for being so effing stupid. All I’ve ever called for is an arrest and trial. If he can’t be proven guily of at least manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt, cest la vie.

And if the guy attacks or threatens you while you’re awaiting the police, you are to do nothing but cower.

I don’t know whether Martin did or did not do anything menacing to Zimmerman, but you don’t know either, Joe.

Spitzer is a foul-mouthed jerk. When he first became governor, he liked to brag about being an “effing steamroller.” When news broke about his hookers scandal, not one person stood up for him or tried to blunt the attacks on his character. Not one single person. That tells you more about the man and his character than anything else.

Had Judge Jeanine on the telly and she listed a bunch of “facts” about the Martin/Zimmerman case. She had at least one wrong which I thought surprising since she’s a judge.
One was the oft-repeated thing about neighbourhood watch people aren’t supposed to carry a gun. While that is true, it presumes that Zimmerman was on a neighbourhood watch patrol when this incident occurred. I don’t believe we know that to be the case. The other thing is regarding the number of times he’s called the police over the years. I haven’t seen any reports one way or the other on cable news or anywhere else telling us how many of those calls were a consequence of the neighbourhood watch group. Neither of these have any bearing whatsoever on his guilt or innocence but they aren’t “facts” that we know to be true at this point.

Al: Surprisingly I haven’t heard anyone other than Zimmerman and his defenders come forward to explain his role in the communities neighbourhood watch program or even if that community had such a program – other than Zimmerman’s patrols. If there was no legitimate neighbourhood watch program then his carrying a gun is not relevant but his patrols lose their varnish of legitimacy and he becomes much more of an armed self appointed cop wannabe

If you assume Zimmerman was a legitimate neighbourhood watch patroller for six years then the 46 calls in that period would be normal and bringing them up would be a red herring. If he was not a legitimate neighbourhood watch patroller then the calls can be looked at in a different light.

-If you assume Zimmerman …-
Maybe that’s my point. We shouldn’t be assuming these facts nor should we have to. Good reporting entails ferreting out these details and what’s the good in having 24 hour cable news services if they don’t perform this basic function?

Judge Jeanine was particularly hard on Zimmerman, which is her right. Her show is an opinion show. But she did have two medial experts on her panel who disputed a couple of her minor medical claims. She’s not a doctor. But she’s a former prosecutor, so I’m not surprised that she is – or seemed to me – very much in favor of an arrest ASAP. This morning Howard Kurtz showed clips from MSNBC and Fox claiming that MSNBC is anti-Zimmerman and Fox is pro-Zimmerman. The only Fox clip he showed was from Hannity, who has been fairly balanced on this subject (at least for him). If I had to say, I’d say he was more pro-Zimmerman than anti-Zimmerman. But the rest of Fox? Pirro, Geraldo, Greta, and even O’Reilly think something very nefarious (to use Billo’s word) is going on in Florida and seem to think Zimmerman should have at least been arrested and let the facts come out at trial. I think Kurtz was totally unfair in his characterization of Fox on this.